The fullness of life is in the hazards of life
by SmirkingWanderer
Summary: Modern AU in which Stannis and Melisandre meet a few times around the town. First chapter is in a library. Their relationship will evolve slowly through each brief encounter.
1. The bookstore

Hey guys! So I just have a few things to say before you read this. The first things is IMPORTANT because it concerns my langage. I'm French Canadian and English isn't my first langage. I'm getting better and better at it but I still need to work on a lot of things on the writing side (mostly grammar). I tried to use engines to correct, but you know they are not always fully correct. So anyway, there will probably be a lot of mistakes and I am so sorry but it's by writing in english now that I'm gonna get better at it and that one day... I won't do any mistakes at all !

Second this is less important but just know that for now it's a one-shot, but it wont stay that way for long. I plan to make them meet a few times around this village Stannis lives in and slowly make their relationship grow by those little encounters! So it's obviously in a moderne alternate-universe and Melisandre won't have the means to do any harm to Stannis or Shireen or anyone, I will try to make it funny and cute to make us forget the terrible last episodes of the tv show!

Have fun reading it and don't be shy to post reviews even if it's to critique it, because critiques are going to help me :)!

 **The fullness of life is in the hazards of life**

 **The bookstore**

When Stannis Baratheon opened the entrance door of the bookstore on this sunny Monday morning, a loud bell rang through the whole place. Always one to hate having all the attention on him, he quickly retreated in the first alley he found. This bookstore was called _Crossroads_ and it was the first time he actually dared enter it. Always one to borrow books and never spend money when free options were available, he finally decided to go in this little but popular bookstore for his daughter's upcoming birthday. Now at the dawn of her 14th year of life, she was a bookworm and proud to be one. For her birthday, she had made a list of books she wanted and asked him to choose one in the list, that she didn't care which one it was because she all wanted to read those books. That's how he ended up here, a few days before her birthday, almost running into an alley of the book shop so he didn't have to feel the eyes of every customer around the door.

Looking up from the ground, Stannis realized that he fled the entrance to end up in the "Religion" section. Letting a growl pass through the barrier of his lips, he walked to the end of the alley all the way to the wall and looked on his left and then on his right to see if there were signs of which alley contained what kind of books. He knew that many of the books Shireen – his daughter – wanted were in the section "Young Adult". From the looks of it, he would have to go in the center alley again to find this section. It's with a loud and resigned sigh that he made his way back to the principal alley. He tried to look as normal as possible, not wanting to draw unrequited attention on his person. But it was already too late because as soon as he put one foot out a man came up to him, almost running to him.

"Can I help you, sir? Are you looking for something in particular?" The man asked him in an annoying voice.

"No, thank you." Stannis replied with his habitual cold voice, refusing to think that he couldn't find by himself the section he was looking for. He was a grown man, for God's sake.

Walking quickly to go as far as he could from the man working in the bookstore, he looked up to see that on this side of the alleys… there were the damn signs he was looking for. Philosophy, Science, Classics, Travel, Art, etc… He walked past many sections before finally finding the "Young Adult" he was looking for. One look informed him that a woman was also in this section. He had two choices. He could go back and go into any other section close to this one until the lady in question was done or he could go in and finally act like a normal social being and not like the socially awkward man in his forties he was. Taking a quick breath in, he opted for the second solution, fearing that if he went back on his path, the damn man would come to help him again.

Turning the corner leading to the Young Adult section, Stannis extricated from his pocket the little handwritten list Shireen made for him, knowing quite well that he wouldn't remember one damn title from her _fantasy_ books. She liked those stories with wizards and dragons in it. Stories full of lies, fairy tales and myths. He never understood why his daughter was so eager to put all those impossible stories in her head but he promised her to buy a book from the list and not a classic or a crime novel, books _he_ actually liked. Why couldn't she read _Les Misérables_ or _To Kill a Mockingbird?_ Davos had answered him that it was because she was only fourteen years old and that he should be patient before trying to feed her all those stories for adults. He had dismissed his answer with one of his hand movements, but he hadn't forgotten it. Davos was a friend that he met a long time ago, before Shireen was even born. He was the only friend he had left, the only one who didn't cut any contact because of his cold personality or because of his daughter's skin disease and even if Stannis would never say it out loud… he was grateful for Davos's presence in his and Shireen's lives. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the woman who was still standing in the same alley as him; he had almost forgotten her.

"So are you in here to revisit your youth or for a gift?" She asked him with an amused tone.

He turned around quickly, meeting her eyes in the same movement. She was dressed all in red, a dark red that was fitting her well. It was a long dress, nothing too sexual but enough to reveal her appealing curves. Her hair was also reflecting some red shades, but was mostly dark. Her face seemed as amused as her voice tone. He frowned at her words, finding that she was only a bit younger than him and that she had nothing to do in this alley either. But maybe she was in this section for a gift too. Clearing his throat, Stannis looked away from her to look at the books in front of him.

"I'm here for a gift, even if I don't know why it's any of your business." He answered.

She hadn't done anything to him and besides the amused tone, she even talked kindly to him. There was no reason for Stannis to be so cold, but he couldn't help it. Expecting her to turn around or even to insult him; he began reading the titles on the sides of the books as well as the writer's names. He was surprised enough by the words that came out of her mouth to turn around to face her again.

"I see. I'm actually here because I like "young adult" fiction. Most of the times, those books are full of murders, blood and violence. Sometimes even filled with sexual activities. I don't really see why it's called "young adult" fiction, because fully grown adults can find their happiness too in those books." She informed him.

Normally he would have find her really annoying and impolite to talk to him about herself without him asking about it, but this time… he strangely found himself to be intrigued and curious about this woman. There was something about her that was… different. She didn't look as stupid as the other woman he met before in his life, she didn't look like any woman he had ever met in fact. And in this small village he was living in, he would clearly remember her if they had met before. Lowering his eyes on Shireen's list, he let a few words came out of his mouth without even controlling it.

"I think a woman your age should read classics, they are way more intelligent than those stories filled with dragons, teenage love and wizards."

Refusing to look at her again, his eyes fixed on the little piece of paper he was holding in his hands, Stannis never noticed the woman getting closer and looking over his shoulder. Not one getting scared easily, he only looked quickly at her with his face frowned. He was about to ask what the hell she thought she was doing when she spoke again.

"I know most of those books on your list, they are pretty good books. If you don't know what to choose I would recommend _The Maze Runner_ , it's an excellent book. It's even a movie now." She told him with a way more serious tone than before.

"I already know which one I want to buy, thank you." He answered with a cold but uncertain voice, making a few steps away from her, going further into the alley. The truth was, he had no idea what he was looking for and he couldn't help for taking a mental note of the name she told him. Looking at him with a smile, she nodded briefly. He was surprised that she was still in a good mood and not insulted at all by his attitude. Most of the time, women were withdrawing quickly when they discovered how bitter and cold he was.

Looking at the books again, he felt the young lady brush against him while she was going to the other end of the alley. He barely restrained a shiver from travelling to his spine all the way to his toes. How on earth did this woman made him feel that way? What was so special about her, for God's sake? Even the mother of his daughter never had this effect on him. He had only married her because she was the only option he had and that his family couldn't accept a man without wife and children in their family, they still had and "old-school" way of thinking. He had inherited of that "old-school" way of thinking and he had never look at younger women nor at any other women before and now this stranger was making him shiver like a teenager. He looked at her while she was picking up a small pile of books she had left on a shelf. Too absorbed in his contemplation, he only saw that she was facing him again when their eyes met and it was too late for him to pretend that he wasn't looking at her. She winked at him and then turned around to leave at her end of the alley. Just when she was about to disappeared into the next alley, she looked at him over her shoulder.

"My name is Melisandre, by the way. I hope you'll find everything that you are looking for."

And on those intriguing words, she left. Fixing the corner and the wall at the end of the alley, Stannis contemplated the void for a few minutes before coming back to earth and slapping himself mentally for letting her distract him and have such a weird effect on his person. When he turned determinedly to look again at the books, his eyes met the green side of a book on which was written _The Maze Runner – James Dashner._ Cursing this Melisandre onto the ten next generations, he gripped the book and made his way back to the annoying men at the cash register.


	2. The drugstore

**The drugstore**

Stiff and angry. That's how Stannis Baratheon looked like when he entered the drug store on the principal avenue on this Saturday afternoon. He had no desire whatsoever to be there at that precise moment for the precise reason he had to be there. It was Shireen fault again that he was forced to go into a public, crowded and annoying place. A few days before it had been the bookstore and now it was the drugstore. A few days before had been about buying her a book for her birthday and now it was… another kind of gift. I wasn't exactly a gift, more like a necessity. An emergency, she had told him. Something that he needed to do for her in the name the love he was bearing her. She had played with his feelings, with his weakness and now he was finding himself hoping that nobody would recognize or even see him. It was a small town, after all. Anyway, he was now here and had no other choice to deal with the problem like the grown man he was.

His goal in mind and hoping that he could do this quick and forget about it already, he walked directly to the alley to the other end of the shop. But before he could reach it, a man came out of an alley and rushed into him. Unfortunately for Stannis, it wasn't a stranger at all.

"Stan, what are you doing here?" The man roared with his familiar loud voice. A man called Robert Baratheon, his brother.

"Robert. I'm here because I have something to buy, what else?" He answered coldly.

"Maybe to finally find a fine woman for yourself! After all, you are a strange man so why not trying to find a woman in a strange place?" He mocked loudly enough for the whole drugstore to hear.

"When are you finally going to grow up, Robert?" Stannis growled, angry.

"Calm down, you're red as a tomato!" His brother exclaimed.

"Leave me alone." Stannis said while becoming redder than before, if it was possible.

He heard Robert's laugh all the way through the alley he was looking for. Trying to ignore his brother and his idiotic remarks, Stannis hoped dearly that he would be gone before the time he had to go to the cash register. In fact, he would probably look discretely around the corner before getting out of the alley just to be sure that his brother wasn't in sight anywhere. If it was the case, there were high chances that Stannis would simply stay hidden behind the selves until Robert's departure. He had never been able to support his brother and things weren't about to change now that Robert had started to claim wherever he went that Stannis's wife wasn't a suitable woman for him, that he needed a younger and more gorgeous wife. One with huge breasts and loud screams during sexual activities no less. Robert had never cared for the family's values and hadn't inherited the "old-school" way of thinking that most of the Baratheon's had. A way of thinking that Stannis himself had way too much deep in himself. He had never looked at another woman since his wedding with Selyse. Not that he had ever looked at a woman even before marrying Selyse. He was a true gentleman but more than that, Stannis had always been the socially awkward type of man and it had never been good with women. It had never been good with anybody, in fact. He had no friends beside Davos and no true love between himself and his brothers or any member of his family.

Burying his own thoughts in a dark corner of his mind, he focused on his main reason to be in this particular alley. He got out of his pocket a little piece of paper on which Shireen had written the exact name and all the information related to the thing she wanted or needed so badly. Eyes on the products aligned on the shelves, it took him a few minutes to finally find the kind of product he was looking for. Now, he had to find the exact brand and kind that Shireen had asked for. "I'll kill you if you don't get me the right thing, dad. I swear I will." She had said very seriously. Obviously, she would never be able to harm him in any way and would never really want too but Stannis wasn't crazy enough to upset Shireen on that sort of matter.

About to give himself up to anger and frustration in front of the way too many different brands and types of that stupidity, Stannis let a curse slipped through the barrier of his lips. Just when he was pushing around a few boxes and packages to see if some other brands hadn't been hidden by others, he heard a muffled sound coming from behind him, like something had fallen on the ground.

"Damn" A familiar voice cursed.

Stannis turned around just in time to see the woman he had met in the bookstore a few days before bending over to retrieve the little box she had dropped. When she got up again, their eyes met and something flashed in hers. A smile on her lips, Melisandre put a hand on her hip while her eyes diverted from his.

"Well, now I know that the book you were looking for was for a girl… or a woman."

Frowning, he stood motionless for a few second. Confused, he finally followed her gaze to fall on his hand who was still fully stuffed in the shelf. A shelf containing a lot of tampon's boxes. Cursing under his breath, he quickly withdrew his hand. Embarrassed, he lowered his gaze to avoid meeting her eyes again, knowing that he would only find amusement and mockery in them. His only comfort was in the idea that she wasn't Robert. Because Robert would never let go of a story like this. He would have heard about it for the next years to come. In the office, at the Christmas parties, in family reunions, everywhere. "Do you know where I found Stannis, the other time? His hand and arm fully stuffed on a shelf of tampons, believe it or not!" Robert would have said, quickly followed by his loud and annoying laugh. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when his eyes met the little box Melisandre had retrieved on the ground. A grey box he knew all too well.

Lifting his head up again, he raised a suggestive eyebrow to the young woman in front of him. When she looked at him confused, he pointed the box with a small head movement. Melisandre then left up the box to their eyes level, clearly not embarrassed by it.

"Yes, I'm buying condoms. Do you have a problem with that?" She asked with a cocky voice.

"No. I'm buying tampons for my daughter. Do you have a problem with that?" He asked with a more stiffed and cold voice.

"Not at all." She answered.

"Good."

He turned around, looking at the little piece of paper in his hand to make sure of how the brand was spelled. Once again, this Melisandre achieved to walk to him quietly and to creep up behind his shoulder to look at the piece of paper. Exactly like what happened at the bookstore, on their first meeting.

"I see it's a whole different kind of list you have there, this time." She said with kind amusement in her voice.

He answered with a grunt, getting more embarrassed each minute passing. First Robert, then her. If he believed in karma or any of this nonsense, he would think that something or someone was cursing him. Dooming him with eternal embarrassment and awkward situations. His thoughts were interrupted once again when he saw Melisandre's arm reaching up to a shelf two shelves away from the one he was looking at a few minutes ago and taking out from it a little purple package.

"Here you go. It's exactly what's written on your little piece of paper you're trying to hide." She told him, handing him the package.

Looking at the purple package she had put in his hands, he took one deep breath before turning to her again.

"Thank you." He answered with what he hoped what a kinder voice tone than before.

"You're welcome. You know, you never told me your name when we met at the bookstore." Melisandre informed him, smiling again.

Meeting her eyes, he stayed silent a few moments, observing her and remembering their first meeting from a few days before. She had helped him find a book for Shireen, without even knowing the existence of his daughter, without even knowing him. They were stranger and she had affected him more than any woman had ever done before. Mysterious and intriguing, she had filled his mind the entire day after that. This time, she wasn't fully dressed in red but under her black vest she indeed had a red blouse. Probably her favorite color, he thought. When he finally came back to reality, he realized he had never answered her and left her waiting while losing himself in his thoughts.

"It's Stannis." He answered, coming back to his old grumpy self.

"So were you about to go to the cash register? I'm done too, we could go together." She said while picking up a blue box from the same shelf she had found the purple one for Shireen.

Not really having a choice and finding himself unable to make up some lie about other things to buy, he followed her quietly on the way to the front of drug store, where the cash registers were. Only one was open on this Saturday afternoon and a few people were already waiting in line to pay for their things. Standing side by side with Melisandre in the line, he looked right in front of him, finding himself unable to look at her again. His low social skills were striking again. But something was troubling him. Something he thought he would never feel in his entire life. He actually and sincerely wanted to find a topic of discussion on with he could be comfortable to talk with her. He actually wanted to talk to this Melisandre. Never before in his life had he wanted something like this and at some point, his mind decided by itself that he was a pathetic old man and that he needed to say something even if it was idiotic.

"So… how come I have never met you before in my life and suddenly we meet twice in the same week?" Stannis asked while never looking at her.

"I actually just moved here, a couple of weeks ago. My visit to the bookstore was my first time going out of my house for something else than work or organizing my house." She answered.

"I see, so you're not a local. That explain a lot, actually" He said. When he saw the look on her face, he added "Because I would clearly have heard your name at least once before if you were from around here. You'll see soon enough that everybody knows everybody around here."

"You're pretty well known around here, that's for sure." She answered.

Surprised, he quickly diverted his eyes from the opposite wall to look directly at her. At the look on his face, Melisandre found herself unable to restrain a small giggle.

"You're Stannis Baratheon, right? I met Robert; you're brother, at the The Red Keep two nights ago." She told him.

"Of course you did." He answered, back to his colder self.

The Red Keep was the only bar of the small town and the second house of Robert. The place where he fished all his women, all his one-night stories. No doubt Melisandre had slept with him and heard everything that Robert knew about him. This revelation felt like a cold shower and he started looking at the wall again, unable to look at her. Back to the beginning.

A few minutes later, she was paying for her things and then it was his turn. When the teenager behind the cash register finally gave him back his money and his things in a bag, Melisandre was nowhere to be seen. Cursing himself, he realized that his attitude had clearly cooled her off and that he had probably lost any chance to ever talk to her again without it being awkward. Maybe it was better this way, maybe she wasn't as different as he thought she were and was just like every women in this town: one of Robert's whore. Life proved him wrong when he turned the corner leading to the exit of the drugstore and that a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder while a voice whispered to his ear:

"I didn't sleep with him, Stannis."

Speechless and breathless, Stannis watched Melisandre walked away from him and out of the drugstore in a whirl of red and black. A shiver went through his spine and he found himself unable to even be mad at her for having such an effect on him. A few hours later, Stannis Baratheon still felt the feeling of relief she had offered him with this whispered revelation.


	3. The Starbucks

Hey guys! So here's the new chapter! It's a bit shorter than the others, I have to admit it. But don't worry, I'll make it up to you! I really wanted to do one encounter in a Starbucks with Shireen being there, but I used this chapter more to make Melisandre and Shireen "meet" for the first time and for Melisandre to put an certain offer on the table for the first time. Anyway, have fun reading it :)!

 **The Starbucks**

"Come on, dad! It will be fun, I promise!" Shireen Baratheon told her father.

Oh, Stannis had no doubts that what they were about to do was going to be fun… for her. They just hadn't the same definition of that word. In fact, rare were the times when Stannis used such a word. Nonetheless, the man let himself been dragged into the only Starbucks of the town by his own daughter. When they entered the small shop, they realized that they weren't the only one who had that idea. At least seven persons were waiting in line behind the counter, making the young teen in his Starbucks uniform sweat more than it was normal for a part-time job. At least he was probably finally realizing what _real_ work looked like. Stannis had never believed that those kinds of student's jobs were good for teenagers. They only made them learned how to be lazy and to spend money restlessly.

"Go choose us a table. What do you want to drink?" Stannis asked his daughter, knowing quite well that by the time it would be his turn, all the other customers would have took the tables.

"An iced cappuccino, please!" She answered, walking toward the nearest table without waiting for his answer.

The Baratheon patriarch rolled his eyes, unsurprised by his daughter's choice. She had always been one to like sugar and she had always taken the most sugary thing on the menu everywhere they went. The chocolate ice-cream soaked in hard chocolate with a chocolate cone or the chocolate cake with a sugar cream icing. He had almost developed diabetes over the years just to look at her engulfing all that sugar. But he knew better than to contradict her choice. He then placed himself behind the last man in the line. His hands thrust in his pockets, he could almost already feel his patience growing smaller and smaller by the minute.

He was looking intently and coldly at the young teenager running behind the counter from a station to another when a hand touched lightly his shoulder.

"Why am I surprised to see you here?" A cheeky voice said.

Stannis turned around to face the owner of the voice but he already knew who it was. Right in front of him was standing Melisandre, the newcomer in town. A young woman that he had first met in the bookshop of the town and then he had met her again at the drugstore – an embarrassing memory – and now they were meeting again. Not one to believe into any nonsense such as destiny or anything of that kind, Stannis preferred to see this as extreme bad luck. But… did he really? Somewhere, deep inside him, there was something almost ready to believe that it was in fact the opposite: that he was lucky to get the chance to meet her that often and that she was still open to talk to him besides all he the grumpiness he had served her. But that little part of him was buried so deep inside of his soul that he easily made it shut up.

"Maybe because even a stranger can see that almost nothing could drag me into this place." He answered, barely restraining an expression of disdain.

"And I guess the "almost" is reserved to the little one over there." She answered, tilting her head to the side to indicate Shireen who was sitting at a table near the large bay window.

"Yes." Stannis simply said.

She nodded briefly, turning her head to look at his daughter. Shireen was busy looking through the window, not paying attention to them or anything else into the coffee shop. She had always had this love to watch people, to observe them and to analyze them. He knew that she had developed this habit because no one ever looked at her. When she was younger, everybody she met on the street would take a double take because of her skin disease but now that everybody was used to her face… most preferred walking by her without looking at all at her. When Stannis had first noticed this, it had put him in such a fury that he had actually punched a wall. Not one for outburst like Robert's ones, he had calmed himself quite quickly after making a small hole in his bedroom's wall. Today, it was just making him sad that she had to go through this because of him. It was his entire fault. Who else? For every unfortunate event or bad luck that Shireen had met in her life, Stannis had blamed himself for them.

"And what brings you here, then?" Stannis said, surprising himself. He hadn't thought about it, he hadn't thought about saying anything and he had been surprised to hear his own voice. Even more to ask such a stupid question, but it was too late to take anything back.

"I was just wandering around when I saw the Starbuck. I didn't even know yet that there was one in this town. So I couldn't resist coming in and ordering a coffee, but I see I'm not the only one with this idea." She answered, looking at the line in front of them who was slowly – too slowly to his taste – becoming shorter.

"Yes. When Shireen asked to come in here, I didn't think there would be so many people."

"Oh, it's not that bad! At least you've got company, now!" She answered with a wink.

He nodded slowly, looking briefly at Shireen while trying to process what was happening. She had just winked at him. He knew that it could mean many things; Davos had told him that women were complicated. He didn't want it to mean anything in particular, but Stannis wanted to know why she had done it. Maybe it wasn't holding any meaning to her, maybe it was just a twitch and he had hallucinated the whole wink thing. Trying to avoid his thoughts slowly getting out of hand, he said the first idiotic thing that went through his mind.

"So, are you becoming a regular customer of _The Red Keep_?" Stannis asked her, still looking at Shireen, at anywhere but her.

"I actually spent the whole night there, yesterday. I had hopes to see you, but I realized it's more Robert's lair than yours." She answered with amusement in her voice.

Grunting at that remark, Stannis couldn't help to meet her eyes again.

"One waiting for me to go in there could wait until the end of the world." He told her, roughness in his voice.

"Is it because of Robert?" She asked him.

"Him and many other reasons, it's… a long story." He told her, without even knowing why he was telling her those things. Not one to talk about himself very much, he was starting to be worried about the effect she was having on him.

"I've got time, you know. There are still three persons ahead of us and still one teenager to serve us all." She informed him, all smile.

Grunting again, Stannis couldn't restrain his teeth from gritting. His jaw clenched and his breathing getting close to absent, he tried to stopped the barrier of his mind to falter, but it was already too late… she already had him under her spell.

"I don't like the people, I don't like the noises, the smells. I don't like the atmosphere, the fact that you can barely hear yourself think and that you get out of there with a headache. I don't like it." He unpacked suddenly, getting out of his heart everything he had. There was one last thing hanging from the safety of his soul, but it went out too, leaving him naked like an open book to read. "And I hate watching Robert _hunting_ , like he calls it."

He had indeed stopped breathing and he realized it when his lungs finally started working normally again. Refusing to look at her once more, Stannis glanced at Shireen who wasn't busy at looking at the outside anymore, but looking directly at them. Quickly diverting his eyes, he cursed himself internally, cursing every generation of his family to come. Why was he always stuck in situations like this? His thoughts were interrupted by Melisandre's voice.

"It explains some things, it's easier to understand." She told him.

"What is?" He couldn't help to asked, confused about what she was saying.

"You. I now know more about the resentment you feel towards Robert and that you're not just acting calm and quiet, that you really are a man of quiet nights." She said, looking directly in his eyes.

Surprised, he stood there motionless. Unable to speak, he realized that he must had stayed frozen for a long time because the teenager behind the counter started calling him impatiently. He quickly ordered Shireen's coffee and his, impatient to get away from Melisandre. He couldn't believe that she had achieved all of this in such a small time. To read him, to decipher him, to make him open himself to her. He wanted to hate her for it… but he couldn't. Just when he was waiting for the coffees to come, Melisandre slipped behind him and brought her mouth to his ear.

"You know, next time we meet doesn't have to me one more hazard. And it doesn't have to be at _The Red Keep._ "

He then felt her hand slipping a piece of paper in his hand hanging at his side. Quickly shoving the little thing in his pocket without even looking at it when he saw the teenager coming back towards them, Stannis grabbed the two coffee cups with shaky hands and started walking towards Shireen without glancing at Melisandre again.

"Who was that, daddy?" Shireen asked, too much curiosity in her voice.

"No one." He answered.

"Didn't looked like no one, it looked like a friend to me. A pretty friend."

"Drink your coffee, would you?" He told her with a disapproving look.

She brought the coffee cup to her lips with a snort. Clearly, he wasn't fooling her. But Melisandre wasn't really a friend, he wasn't hiding anything. She was nothing to him, besides a stranger making him react like a teenager. Refusing to endure Shireen's look one more second, Stannis turned his head toward the bay window just in time to meet Melisandre's eyes while she was passing in front of the shop, a smile on her lips. At that exact moment, he could have sworn the little piece of paper that she gave him and that he had shoved in his pocket was burning through his pants and burning his skin. He could feel its presence but didn't dare to read it in front of Shireen. Taking a sip of his still too hot coffee, the Baratheon let the black liquid burned his throat to make him forget the burning of her eyes and her paper. _Damn this woman._


End file.
